A FIRST — IN A CAREER AT THE VERY TOP OF PROFESSIONAL SPEAKING
"I have never affiliated myself with any speaker business program in my career. MainStage is the first — because it is the first one I have seen that actually teaches the business of speaking, not just the performance of it."
Tim Gard · CSP, CPAE · Twice-inducted NSA Hall of Fame · Active NSA Member
Why this matters to you as an NSA member: Tim Gard is one of the most respected figures in the global NSA community. The CPAE — Council of Peers Award for Excellence — is NSA's highest honor, awarded by fellow professional speakers for sustained excellence across a lengthy career. He has been inducted twice into the NSA Speaker Hall of Fame. In all that time, he has never affiliated himself with a speaker business program. MainStage is his first. That is not a marketing line — that is a signal from someone who has seen every program in this industry and said no to all of them until now.
NSA Premier
Partner
Twice Hall of Fame
Endorsed
Multi-Award-Winning Program
25+ Years Industry Experience
9 In-Depth
Modules
Weekly
Coaching Calls
3× Stevie International Business Awards
— The world's premier business awards — 70+ countries · Innovation in Business Process & New Business
Asia-Pacific Business Awards
— Recognized program excellence across the Asia-Pacific region
UK Dept. for Business & Trade
— Special Commendation for International Business Development
The Only Program of Its Kind
— Co-founded by an active, working international speaker agent
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH
Most of the advice circulating in the speaking world is wrong. Fundamentally, expensively wrong.
01
MYTH: Standing ovations mean the phone will ring.
A standing ovation is a wonderful thing. It is not a booking strategy. Audiences love you; event organizers write the checks. These are not the same people, they do not talk to each other, and they buy for entirely different reasons. The path from applause to a signed contract requires a deliberate commercial system — not a better talk.
02
MYTH: Get on a bureau's roster and the gigs will come.
Bureaus are not your sales team. They are order-fulfillment businesses — they respond to client demand, they do not create it. Bureaus represent the top 12% of the market. The other 88% of speaking revenue is booked directly. Building your entire business strategy around bureau representation is like opening a shop and waiting for someone else to drive traffic to it.
03
MYTH: There is a 'speaking circuit' you need to break into.
There is no circuit. There is no invisible network of gatekeepers you need to charm your way past. There are clients on one side and you on the other. When you understand exactly who those clients are, what they actually buy, and how to position yourself as the obvious answer to their specific problem — the circuit takes care of itself.
04
MYTH: Better marketing will fill your calendar.
Most speakers market their passion. Their buyers, however, are not looking for passion — they are looking for a solution to a specific business problem, for a specific audience, at a specific event. No amount of marketing fixes a positioning problem. If you are pushing the wrong message to the wrong people, better marketing just means more people see something that does not convert.
"The speakers we see fail are not failing because they are not talented enough. They are failing because they are solving the wrong problem."
"Building profile doesn't get you speaking business.
Getting speaking business gets you the profile."
— MainStage Speaker Business Academy
SPEAKERS WHO WERE STUCK. THEN WEREN'T.
You are probably not a beginner. Something just is not clicking at the level it should be.
These are the four patterns MainStage sees most often — across every niche, every market, every level of experience. One of them is probably yours.
Pattern 1 — The Workshop Escape
You speak. But mostly in rooms, not on stages.
Years of experience. A strong reputation. Plenty of engagement. But keynotes are sporadic, written from scratch for each client, and the big-stage pipeline is not there. You know you have another level in you. You just have not found the system to get there.
Pattern 2 — The Traction Gap
You have invested. Nothing is converting.
Left a senior role with a differentiated message. Invested in branding, a website, social content, maybe even a marketing agency. Zero bookings came back. The message is strong. The business is not converting.
Pattern 3 — The Expertise Trap
You have the authority. No one is calling.
Multiple books. A strong professional reputation. High profile in your industry. But keynote inquiries are not coming in with any regularity — and you are condensing workshops into 45-minute talks rather than delivering true keynotes.
Pattern 4 — The Cooling Market
It worked for years. Then it stopped.
Years of successful keynotes — bureau-listed, regular bookings, strong referrals. Then the pipeline slowed. Then it stopped. Spent serious money on advertising. Not one booking came from it.
In every one of these cases, the answer was not more marketing, more profile, or more bureaus. It was clarity, positioning, and a commercial system built around how buyers actually make decisions."
The MainStage Accelerator Model
Nine modules. Four months. One fully operational speaking business pipeline.
The MainStage Accelerator is built around a proven 9-stage methodology — designed to take your speaker business apart and rebuild it in a way that is guaranteed to give you commercial success.
Each week you watch one training module in the portal. Then you bring your questions, your work, and your real situations to the weekly coaching call with Michael and Marty — where you get direct implementation support from two people with 55+ combined years on both sides of the booking table.
You have four months inside the program. That is enough time to build something that actually lasts — not just absorb information you forget before implementing it.
The MainStage Accelerator Model
Product. Promotion. Profit.
A 9-week step-by-step methodology to guide you through the process of taking your speaker business apart and rebuilding it in a way that is guaranteed to give you commercial success.
- PRODUCT — Find your uniqueness, express your positioning, identify your target market. Refine your keynote so you stand out, not just show up.
- PROMOTION — Craft your materials, publish your video, build your website. Become impossible to overlook in your market.
- PROFIT — Model the best, drop the mic, land the big gigs. Build the commercial side that turns expertise into a sustainable speaking business.
Where all three overlap: PRO — the convergence of Influence, Impact, and Income. That is what the full 9 modules are designed to produce.
01
Find Your Uniqueness
Stop blending in. Most speakers sound like everyone else in their space — safe, generic, forgettable. Identify your lane — the thing that makes you the obvious choice — not one of several options.
02
Express Your Positioning
Sharpen your messaging until it cuts through inbox clutter in seconds. Bookers and C-suite clients get it immediately — and say yes faster.
03
Find Your Target Market
Identify the people who actually sign the checks — not your audience, your buyers. Learn to speak directly to their priorities, not the priorities of the people in the seats.
04
Craft Your Promotional Materials
Your one-pager, speaker kit, and keynote descriptions become a sales team that works 24/7. Built to attract high-fee gigs and politely repel low-budget time-wasters.
05
Publish Your Video
Eight types of video in your speaker library — including the proprietary Full Story Video™ — that book gigs faster than any cold pitch, without the overproduced sizzle-reel nonsense.
06
Build Your Website for Bookings
Turn your site from a digital brochure into a booking engine. Every page designed to move decision-makers toward "send contract" — not to impress other speakers.
07
Drop the Mic
Using the MainStage Keynote Power Planner™, learn to perform like a keynote speaker — not deliver a condensed workshop. Use your time on stage to cement your authority and get invited back, year after year.
08
Model the Best
The 3 R's System used by the top 1% of speakers to generate 80% of next year's bookings from stages they have already been on. Stop starting from zero every January.
09
Land the Big Gigs
The Agent's Secret 5 Method™ — a bureau-level booking process that converts warm leads into high-fee gigs without scripts, manipulation, or spray-and-pray outreach.
The Agent's Secret 5 Method™
The fourth month is where it all comes together.
Dedicated to implementation, refinement, and accountability. Your assets are reviewed and critiqued. Your pipeline is stress-tested. Your coaches are on hand every week to make sure you finish the program not with a to-do list — but with the work done.
WHAT YOU GET
Four months. Four coaches. Nine stages. One transformed speaking business.
📞
Weekly Coaching Calls with Michael & Marty
Each week after watching your module, you join a coaching call with Michael and Marty. Bring your questions, your work, your real situations — and get direct implementation support from two people with 55+ combined years in this industry.
🎓
9 Training Modules in the Portal
One module per week, self-paced in your own portal. Each training builds on the last, taking you step by step through the complete MainStage Accelerator methodology over 9 weeks.
🕵️
Personal Critique of Your Positioning & Assets
Direct feedback on your keynote, positioning, promotional materials, and website from coaches who have seen what works and what does not — across 30+ countries and thousands of booking decisions.
🌐
The Agent's Perspective — Live
Michael Arnot's 25+ years placing speakers at events including the Million Dollar Round Table (9,000+ delegates) — brought directly into your coaching every week. The intelligence that comes from the other side of the desk, not a textbook.
🗒️
Proven Sales Templates, Scripts & Frameworks
Speaker kit frameworks, outreach scripts, fee conversation guides, keynote description structures — the exact tools used by the top working professional speakers. Adapt and deploy, do not build from scratch.
🫂
The Green Room Community
Access to MainStage's private speaker community — people actively building professional speaking businesses. Peer accountability, shared wins, 24/7 feedback, and real conversations from the working world.
📫
4 Months Inside the Program
Four full months of access — enough time to watch all 9 modules, attend the weekly coaching calls, implement the framework, have your work critiqued, and start seeing real commercial results before you leave.
🎁
90-Day MainStage Milestone Pack
At the 90-day mark, something arrives in the mail. Because finishing the first three months is worth marking — and MainStage believes in celebrating the work, not just the results.
THE GUARANTEE
We work with you until it works.
Most programs hand you a framework and wish you luck. MainStage makes a different kind of commitment.
We guarantee the gap between you and the speaking business you deserve will no longer be a lack of knowledge, strategy, or support.
If you implement the full program as directed and have not earned the program fee back in speaker bookings within six months of completing implementation, we will continue working with you — at no additional cost — until you do.
This is not a passive money-back offer. It is an active commitment to stay in your corner until it works — as long as you stay in the game. Full implementation of all program elements is required to qualify.
INVESTMENT
USD $8,500
paid in full · or 3 payments of $3,500
THE TEAM
Both sides of the stage. Every angle covered.
Every other speaker program teaches you one speaker's perspective. MainStage teaches you the full picture — from the stage, from the agency desk, from the client's chair, and from the awards podium. This is the only program in the world delivered by an active, working international speaker agent and global professional speakers.
Michael Arnot
Speaker Agent · Principal, Encore Speakers · Co-Founder
The last time Michael was in Singapore, it was to deliver nine main-platform speakers to the Million Dollar Round Table — an audience of over 9,000 people. That is the level of his operating reality.
Michael is a globally recognized expert in the events and speaking industry, with 25+ years spanning Australia, Europe, the USA, Asia, and the Middle East.
He co-founded MainStage because he was tired of watching great speakers fail for entirely avoidable reasons.
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Principal and Owner of Encore Speakers — a leading global speaking agency
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3× Stevie International Business Awards for Innovation in Business Process and New Business
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Special Commendation, UK Department for Business and Trade — International Business Development
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The only co-founder of a speaker training program who is also an active, working speaker agent
Marty Wilson
CSP · Global Keynote Speaker · Author of 16 Books · Co-Founder
Marty Wilson is a pharmacist-turned-bestselling author of 16 books who has built a keynote career on one core belief: that true success in business, and genuine happiness in life, only comes when you step into the territory outside your comfort zone. A CSP and full-time global keynote speaker, Marty works with major corporates on resilience through change. His superpower inside MainStage: he is a working speaker who implements everything he teaches, every week. When speakers ask "how do I actually do this alongside my existing schedule?" — Marty is the answer.
- CSP — the speaking profession's highest earned credential, held by fewer than 12% of NSA members globally
- Former Australian Comic of the Year
- Bestselling author of 16 books on resilience, change, and working well
- Spoken at over a thousand events across corporate, association, and conference markets worldwide
Tim Gard
CSP · CPAE · Twice-Inducted NSA Hall of Fame · Program Coach
Tim Gard is a twice-inducted member of the NSA Speaker Hall of Fame — one of the most elite honors in professional speaking. He is one of the most respected figures in the global NSA community. His philosophy: the best way to build lasting trust and connection between a speaker and an audience is through clean, universally appreciated humour — and he has built a remarkable international career doing exactly that.
Tim coaches MainStage participants on both the craft of speaking at the highest level and the business strategy behind building a career that sustains over decades.
- Twice-inducted NSA Speaker Hall of Fame (CPAE)
- Decades as a professional speaker at the highest levels of the industry
- First — and only — speaker business program he has ever endorsed or affiliated with
- Active NSA member and one of the most trusted voices in the global speaking community
Lauren Clemett
Director, The Audacious Agency · Neurobranding Expert · 5× Bestselling Author · Program Coach
Lauren Clemett is one of the most respected personal brand strategists in the speaking world. With over three decades of experience in brand management, she is a sought-after keynote speaker in her own right — and crucially, a MainStage Accelerator graduate who followed the exact process she now teaches. She brings an unmatched combination: insider knowledge of the program as a participant, and deep expertise in profile-building, award strategy, and credibility positioning that puts speakers in front of the right buyers.
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Stevie Award winner — Innovation in Neurobranding for Service Professionals
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5× international bestselling author on personal branding and magnetic leadership
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Director of The Audacious Agency — personal brand strategy for speakers and thought leaders
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MainStage Accelerator graduate — teaches the process from the inside, having lived it herself
WHAT SPEAKERS SAY
Real results. Real speakers. Real businesses.
From the program directory — and from the stages that followed.
Accelerator Graduate
"I thought it was going to be what's in all the other programs, but boy was I mistaken. The content was amazing — so many AHA moments. My profit for those six months was higher than my full 12 months prior. Growth of 44%."
Accelerator Graduate
"I want to thank you for helping me have the courage to increase my fees. I've recently won 2 other bookings for keynotes at twice what I was previously charging."
John Carroll · Accelerator Participant
Accelerator Graduate
"If you're already a great speaker, what you really need to know is how to sell speaking. That's what you get here. I highly, highly recommend it. And the guys are a hoot — which really helps."
Fiona Robertson · Accelerator Participant
Accelerator Graduate
"I have closed a large contract with a client for $240k for 24 keynotes over a year. The second is I secured a $USD30k booking in North America where I am the opening AND closing speaker.
Implementing your stuff and ensuring I'm uniquely positioned in the marketplace has been key to this success so I'm hugely grateful to your advice over the last 12 months.
A big thank you and time to celebrate! 😆🥂🍾
Brad Twynham · Accelerator Participant
🌟
FEATURED GRADUATE
Shani Dhanda — LinkedIn Changemaker & Multi-Award-Winning Disability Specialist Speaker
Since completing the MainStage Accelerator, Shani has shared stages with Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Legend, and delivered keynotes for Google, Deloitte, and Facebook. Her journey from Accelerator participant to one of the most sought-after speakers in her field is exactly what this program is built to produce.
IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU?
Built for speakers who are serious about the business, not just the next gig.
The accelerator is designed for speakers at three stages. If any of these sounds like you, you are in the right place.
STAGE 01
The Emerging Speaker
You have real expertise and some speaking experience — but you do not yet have a commercial growth system. You are ready to stop hoping and start building.
STAGE 02
The Growing Speaker
You have secured paid engagements but struggle with consistency and positioning. You know more is possible — you just do not have the system to get there reliably.
STAGE 03
The Established Speaker
You were successful through referrals — and demand has plateaued or declined. You need a modern growth strategy that does not depend on waiting for someone to recommend you.
This accelerator is for you if —
- You are already speaking — paid or emerging — and want a consistent, sustainable business around it
- You are an NSA member who wants structured commercial coaching to complement your membership
- You want access to a working international agent's real perspective on how buyers actually make decisions
- You are willing to implement — not just consume — and understand that speed of execution determines results
- You are done waiting for referrals and ready to generate opportunities proactively
- You are coachable, driven, and ready to do the work
This is not the right fit if —
- You have never been paid to speak and are just starting out — get foundations first
- You believe speaking success should happen organically, without strategy, outreach, or positioning work
- You expect agents or bureaus to solve the problem without a commercial system underneath them
- You are looking for a quick fix — results here correlate directly with implementation
- You want presentation training rather than commercial business growth
THE SHIFT
Where you are now. Where this takes you.
BEFORE MAINSTAGE
AFTER MAINSTAGE
A P P L I C A T I O N S N O W O P E N
You have built the expertise.
Now build the business.
A 20-minute discovery call — no pitch, no pressure. We will both know within that time whether the accelerator is the right fit for where you are and where you want to go. If it is not the right fit, we will tell you that too.
No hard sell. No obligation. Just an honest conversation with people who understand this industry from the inside.
"I've done programs before and they didn't work." — MainStage is not a program of frameworks and theory. It is coaching with an active speaker agent and a working global speaker. What you do in the next 9 modules changes what the next 5 years look like.
"I already have an agent." — Great. The accelerator makes you better positioned, better priced, and more compelling to the agents you already have — and the ones you want. Michael Arnot runs an agency. He built this program to make speakers more placeable.
"My market is different." — This framework has been applied across 30+ countries and dozens of niches. Leadership. Sales. Culture. Wellbeing. Innovation. If you speak for money, the business principles apply.